Back in August, Nancy Pelosi said that she would be HR 676 to the floor. I called her office and they assured me her comments on Single Payer to the floor had referred to 676. The rumour is something about Single Payer is coming to the floor. Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers are not too thrilled with that. I've placed the text of their letter, and a link to the petition, after the jump.
Now, it's conceivable that as part of the Saturday vote on her health care bill, she may or may not include the Weiner amendment for Single Payer. She is saying that including Single Payer would break Obama's promise of allowing people to keep the insurance they have.
This is odd for two reasons. First is that Constitutional separation of powers things, wherein legislation comes from the legislative branch. But moreso, before he was president, Barack Obama WAS a big fan of Single Payer. The clip is below, and because the audio is hard to hear, I placed the actual text below the video.
“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. And that’s what Jim is talking about when he says everybody in, nobody out. A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.”
HHHMMMNNN...
By the way, if you hear that one of the ways that the Pelosi bill will hold down costs is included in the bill section entitled "Sunshine on Price Gouging by Health Insurance Issuers", don't believe it. It's beefed up in the manager's mark, but is still devoid of enforcement provisions. That is, the bill requires that insurance companies publicly disclose the reason for any premium increase on their websites, available to all, AND submit the information to the Secretary of HHS for review. BUT there is nothing in the law which allows the Feds to say NO to any increases. Currently, that purview falls to the State Insurance Commissioners, and it still does under the new bill. If you've written a check for a premium, or checked the deduction on your pay stub, you know how well that system has been working. For other real-world examples think "UN Peace Monitors" or "Nuclear monitors: Iran".
We thank you for your continued devotion to the cause of health care for All Americans. We have worked together for many years to write, promote and campaign for HR676, a single payer, not for profit health care system. Your work, in communities across America, has been instrumental in helping at least ten states create single payer movements, with many more states to come.
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives is scheduled to consider a single payer bill. As the two principal co-authors of the Conyers single payer bill, we want to offer a strong note of caution about tomorrow's vote.
The bill presented tomorrow will not be HR676. While we are happy to relinquish authorship of a single payer bill to any member who can do better, we do not want a weak bill brought forward in a hostile climate to unwittingly accomplish what would be interpreted as a defeat for single payer.
Here are the facts: There has been no debate in Congress over HR676. There has not been a single mark-up of the bill. Single payer was "taken off the table" for the entire year by the White House and by congressional leaders. There has been no reasonable period of time to gather support in the Congress for single payer. Many members accepted a "robust public option" as the alternative to single payer and now that has disappeared. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has scored the bill scheduled for a vote tomorrow in a manner which is at odds with many credible assumptions, meaning that it will appear to cost way too much even though we know that true single payer saves money since one of every three dollars in the health care system goes to administrative costs caused by the insurance companies. Is this really the climate in which we want a test vote?
While state single payer movements are already strong, the national single payer movement is still growing. Many progressives in Congress, ourselves included, feel that calling for a vote tomorrow for single payer would be tantamount to driving the movement over a cliff. The thrill of the vote would disappear quickly when the result would be characterized not as a new beginning for single payer but as an end. Such a result would be seen as proof that Congress need not pay attention to efforts to restore in Conference Committee the right of states to pursue single payer without fear of legal attacks by insurance companies.
We are always grateful for your support. We are now asking you to join us in suggesting to congressional leaders that this is not the right time to call the roll on a stand-alone single payer bill. That time will come. And when it does there will not be any doubt of the outcome. This system of health care injustice will not be able to endure forever. We are pledged to make sure of that.
Sincerely, Congressmen John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich
Back in August, Nancy Pelosi said that she would be HR 676 to the floor. I called her office and they assured me her comments on Single Payer to the floor had referred to 676. The rumour is something about Single Payer is coming to the floor. Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers are not too thrilled with that. I've placed the text of their letter, and a link to the petition, after the jump.
